Conspiracy
by Power of the Wol
Summary: Cortex and Company regain consciousness to find the Space Station has been nearly destroyed by an unknown attack. With nothing but dim memories of the events leading up to it, the crew must work backwards to figure out what happened.
1. Chapter 1: Awakening

Conspiracy.

**Power: I was hoping to finish "Enter Treezan" before I wrote this one. But I have decided to discontinue in favour of focusing on this one. It doesn't matter, you don't really need to know that much about her to read this, so you won't be missing out. This fanfic is rated PG for mild swearing and mild violence. However this may go up in future chapters. A word of warning, the action isn't written in the exact order. Some scenes may take place at the same time as others, or may start at some point during another a scene.**   
Chapter 1: Awakening   
Console lights blinked on and off through the smoke. His vision blurred in and out. Where was he? What happened? He closed his eyes and tried to remember. The Bridge, he was on the Bridge! But what happened? They must've hit something, a meteorite, a satalite, a mine. . .? In space? Things were slowly starting to fall into place. He was on the Bridge of his Space Station . . . in orbit around Earth? No, that wasn't right. They'd moved away to investigate something - yes that was it. What was it again? He couldn't remember. The sickening dizziness of a severe concussion was beginning to take hold. Other than that he was fine. Was everbody else all right? He climbed slowly to his feet.  
The collision had thrown him clear of his chair. He was standing at one of the navigational consoles at the front of the Bridge. The console informed him that they'd come to a complete halt. That was good. He walked back to his chair. Bits of ceiling rubble lay strewn here and there. The chair itself lay beneath a pile of rubble. He shoved it off, collapsed into the chair and flipped open a compartment in the left arm.  
"This is Dr. Cortex to anyone who can respond. Damage report"  
No response. He tried again. Dead air - which meant that either the comm was down or everyone else was unconcious or worse.  
A pile of rubble by the door groaned. Cortex looked round in surprise, he couldn't remember anyone else being on the Bridge with him. The pile of rubble shifted. He got up and went over to investigate.  
"N. Brio"  
"Get this. . . off me." He was pinned down by heavy-looking piece of metal.  
Cortex removed the lighter stuff and looked at the piece of metal. "I don't think I can lift that without help." He folded his arms across his chest. "Anything broken"  
"No"  
"Can you feel this?" He pinched N. Brio's ankle.  
"Ow - yes"  
"Good. I don't think your back's broken"  
"Well that's great"  
Cortex frowned. A darkish puddle was forming by the other doctor's right side. He stooped and touched it. "You're bleeding"  
"My side hurts"  
He looked at the piece of metal. "All right, I'm going to try and lift it." He shouldn't have bothered - it was too heavy. He looked around the room for anything that might help. "Wait, wait, I've got an idea." The doctor began grabbing bits of metal and shoved them under one end of the metal object, propping it up until N. Brio was able to scramble out.  
They stared at the nasty gash on Brio's side.  
"That's going to need a bandage." Cortex stated uneccessarily. "There should be a medkit here somewhere." He began searching around the bridge, leaving Brio to examine the wound.

The room was pitch black. He couldn't see a thing. He was trapped. A large heavy object had hit his leg, fire flared up it everytime he so much as twitched. He had a vague recollection of a loud explosion and of being hurled across the room. There were other people in the room with him. Starlight illuminated the deep green scales of one unconcious figure by the window. Another was slumped, upside down against the wall. The third was trapped beneath the table by a heavy metal beam.  
"Joe," He called to the figure by the window. "Komodo Joe, wake up"

His chest hurt. Stabbing pain everytime he breathed. It was like breathing fire. What looked like a tree at first glance was sprawled across a work bench on its back. He climbed slowly to his feet and looked around. His lab was a mess. Bits of rubble from the ceiling had fallen and smashed most of it up. The lights were dim but they were enough. He looked at the tree-lizard thing lying on the work bench. It stirred and opened it's wide, yellow, slit-pupiled . It cursed. " Shit! What the hell happened"  
"Apparantly. . . we hit something"  
The creature stared at him. "Really, N. Gin. What in space gave you that idea?" she replied sarcastically.  
"Perhaps we should contact Dr. Cortex"  
She relinquished her shock-induced sarcasm. "Good idea." The tree creature got up and sat down to inspect herself.  
He pressed the comm button on the wall by the door. "N. Gin to Dr. Cortex, please respond"

Cortex scrambled to the chair. "This is Dr. Cortex. What's happened? Who's with you? Where are you? Are you hurt"  
"We must've hit something." Came the reply. "I'm with Treezan . . . " here another voice interrupted. "Ah man, a bit of my antler's snapped off - it'll take ages to regrow. . . oh, uh but otherwise I'm fine." N. Gin continued. "We're in my lab and I'm 100 percent certain that I have broken ribs"  
"Can you get to the Bridge"  
"Uh. . . Yes, in theory"  
"Good. Report to the Bridge"  
"On our way"

"Here, wait, take this." Treezan had found a complete test tube. She drooled into it. "For the pain"  
She handed it to him and turned away to look for some bandages.  
Dr. Cortex, well actually Dr. Tropy, had the brilliant idea of creating a minion with healing properties so it could heal itself and others during battle. He'd used a tree as the basic design and crossed it with a lizard because of it's faster healing time and regenerative abilities. Although somehow the result - the rather adorable, vain but good humoured Treezan, had a more insect-like head and eyes, with stubby but sharp mandibles - there must've been some kind of ant on the tree he used. (Treezan has not yet fought Crash Bandicoot because she's only a sapling and still has a lot of growing to do)  
He looked like he'd been ordered to drink poison but forced it down none the less just as she found a roll of bandages. Treezan secured them tightly around his chest and with nothing to pin them in place, resorted to tying them.  
"Let's go." She jumped off the table, landed rather awkwardly and strolled casually out of the door.

Dr. Cortex looked over at N. Brio. "How's it going"  
He was punching buttons and scowling at the console. "I can't get a damage report because the scanners are down and I don't know how to get them online because I can't figure out this keyboard! The impact seems to have rewritten most of the computer's language." He took a deep breath. "I can tell you that Docking Bay 4 is still online - not that that helps but it's the only info I've got"

Komodo Joe groaned as he came to. He tried to speak but he couldn't remember how. The room was dark.  
"Komodo Joe?" That wasn't his brother.  
He groaned. ". . . . . . . Nnn. . . N. Tropy"  
The voice sounded relieved. " Good, good, your awake. How bad are you hurt"  
He raised a scaly hand to his forehead. "Uhhhhh. . . . mmm." His left wrist hurt. He tried to move his fingers but his hand wouldn't respond. "My wrist is broken"  
"O.k . . . anything else"  
He moved his feet and tail. "No"  
"All right, listen. I'm trapped beneath this rubble and my leg is broken. I don't know how bad it is though. Can you help me"  
Joe nodded and got up. The room tipped slightly and his vision blurred a little. He was extremely grateful that his lizard healing abilities had kicked in otherwise he'd be feeling a lot worse. He moved across the room to the pile of rubble N. Tropy's voice was coming from, holding his broken wrist against him. Most of the rubble was easily shifted with one hand. From what he could see, the doctor's leg was twisted round at an unnatural angle.  
"Well"  
"Uh. . . I'm not too sure in this light but I don't think you'll be walking on it for quite a while"  
He sighed. "I was afraid you were going to say that"  
The figure under the table groaned. "Ahh-ow. What the. . . huh?" He shifted the table and heavy beam and stood up, staggering a little to the right. "I think my tail's broken"  
"Dingodile"  
"Joe? What happened? Where's everyone else"  
"I'm down here," said N. Tropy.  
A fouth voice joined the conversation. "Ouch, and I'm over here. . . . whoa, everything's upside down. Oh no! I'm in a parallel universe!" Moe cried.  
"Moe, you're upside down, here let me help you." Joe helped his brother to his feet. "Are you hurt"  
He paused to assess himself. ". . . . . Nope"  
"We need some light. Where's the light switch?" Dingodile squinted round the dark room looking for a light switch.  
"Computer, lights," N. Tropy commanded.  
Dim lights lit the room.  
"Ah, that's better." Dingodile stared down at the doctor. "Oh, ow, that's nasty." He looked away.  
"Is there a medkit in here?" Asked Joe.  
"There should be," N. Tropy replied.  
"Hey wait. Do you hear something?" Moe was staring at the door.  
Everyone strained to listen. They could hear voices drifting down the corridor.  
"Treezan!" Moe grinned and shot out the door. Strangled screaming informed everyone Treezan was being crushed in a bear-hug. The komodo dragon returned still hugging the poor tree creature, N. Gin following behind them.  
"Put. . . me. . . down!" She gasped. He obeyed. Treezan haughtily inspected herself. "Well. It doesn't look like my bark's been ruined." She glared at Moe. "You're lucky." She sniffed and folded all four branches across what passed for her chest. "So. How is everyone"  
"Broken: my wrist, his leg, his tail"  
She nodded. "I'll get to work. Where's the medkit"

"Unngh." His right hand twitched as he slowly opened his eyes. He was upside down, slammed against the view screen. Red lights flashed on and off. His eyes widened. The proximity alert sirens. He was about to collide with something. With difficulty he righted himself and crawled back into the cockpit chair. He peered through his lurching vision at the console. Apparantly, he wasn't moving but sensors were picking up a very large ship close by. Very large. More like a space station. Unfortunately sensors had taken damage and couldn't reveal anything else about the Space Station other than the fact that it was there. He activated the comm.  
"Nitrous Oxide to Space Station, please respond - permission to dock"  
The voice that answered was about the last voice he expected.  
". . . Nitrous Oxide"  
". . . Dr. Cortex"  
"What in blazes are you doing here"  
"I ask the same question"  
"We're investigating something. Now what do you want?" Cortex spat down the comm.  
"Check your scanners!" Oxide snapped back.  
A different voice answered. "THE SCANNERS ARE OFFLINE! STOP RUBBING IT IN MY FACE"  
"N. Brio, no one's rubbing it in your face, just calm down all right? Sorry about that. What do you want"  
"Permission to dock, my ship has taken damage and I'm hurt"  
There was a very long pause before Cortex reluctantly replied. "Permission granted"  
"Thank you"  
"Docking Bay 4, it's the only one that still works"

Treezan paused in the middle of bandaging Komodo Joe's broken wrist. She looked over to where N. Gin was standing.  
"You should go on ahead to the Bridge"  
He nodded and turned to walk out the door.  
Treezan looked over at Komodo Moe who had just freed N. Tropy's leg. "Go with him"  
Moe nodded, dropped the metal beam he was lifting and followed after the doctor out the door.  
She finished bandaging Joe's wrist and fixed up a sling for him. "There you go. All done"  
Dingodile looked out the window as the tree creature started to inspect N. Tropy's leg. His jaw dropped. "Guys, you're not gonna believe this"  
All looked up.  
Joe's mouth hung open. "That's that alien Oxide's ship, if I recall correctly"  
Treezan looked blank. "Who"  
"Nitrous Oxide," N. Tropy explained wincing everytime one of her branches prodded his leg. "An alien who threatened to turn our entire planet into a concrete parking lot if we lost to him in a race. Crash Bandicoot was the one who saved us of course"  
She frowned. "Turn it into a concrete parking lot? I don't see how he could've done that. It sounds ludicrusly impossible"  
He grinned at her. This swiftly turned into a grimace as she began to bandage a splint to his leg. With one of her two lesser branches she pulled out the test tube and drooled into it. "Take this, it should ease the pain in about 15 minutes"  
He stared at it for a full minute before plucking up the courage to swallow it down.  
"How about you Joe"  
He was staring at the ship trying to figure out what Oxide was doing. "I think he's trying to dock with our Space Station"  
Dingodile looked round at him. "He's having a fine time trying to do that. One of his engine's been damaged"  
"He must've been in contact with Dr. Cortex." Joe concluded.  
"Is he heading for Docking Bay 4? That's right near us"  
Oxide finally managed to get the offending engine working a little and was slowly approaching Docking Bay 4.  
Dingodile grinned. "Let's go and meet him"  
"After I fix your tail," Treezan replied standing to help N. Tropy up. Komodo Joe picked up his tuning fork staff and handed it to him. The doctor thanked the lizard and tucked it under one arm as a temporary crutch.  
Dingodile sat down to be tended to. "Why don't you two go on ahead and greet him. We'll follow you in a bit"  
"All right." Joe had to help N. Tropy hobble out of the door.

Oxide stood leaning against the door waiting for the docking clamps to attach to his ship. A loud clunk informed him of the successful docking and he pressed the button beside him to open the hatch.  
I hope Cortex's got a good medic  
He stumbled through the first hatch and waited for the second to open.  
"Well well well, look what the cat dragged in." Komodo Joe leered down at his short height, while N. Tropy held a superior look on his face despite the obvious pain he was in.  
Oxide squinted at them through his tipping vision. They appeared to be wobbling left and right. He was coming over all light-headed.  
"Geez, are you all right?" Joe asked kneeling.  
"Why you can't you just stand still," Oxide snapped irritably. He felt like he was falling - perhaps he shouldn't have got up so fast. Now everything was going black. Was he going blind? Great, this is all I need  
"You don't look all right." N. Tropy's voice was so far away.  
"Whoa!" Joe exclaimed as the alien collapsed to the deck. He grabbed Oxide's shoulder and shook him. "Come on, wake up. I don't think you should go to sleep"  
Oxide mumbled something in a strange language - possibly his native tongue. The lizard looked up at N. Tropy. "Don't let him fall asleep. I'm going to get Treezan." He ran off.  
Oxide's eyes closed. He shook him again and his eyes opened. The alien seemed to have forgotten English and kept talking to Tropy in his native tongue.  
"I don't understand a word your saying"  
"Go. . . away. Tired . . . sleep . . . "  
"No you don't." He shook Oxide again. "Come on, stay awake." He poked the alien in the chest.  
"I'll take over." Treezan kneeled beside the half-concious alien while the other three looked on. "Here smell this." She wafted a test tube containing some foul smelling liquid in front of what she hoped was the alien's nose. He began to cough and splutter in disgust and his eyes began to water.  
"Feeling more awake now"  
He nodded.  
"This should help." The tree creature withdrew a cup and drooled into it.  
He looked shocked. "I'm not drinking your spit"  
She laughed. "Please. I don't have spit because I don't chew when I eat therefore, I don't need it. It's just a juice all right and it will help you. So drink it voluntarily or the others will have the pleasure of forcing it down your throat. Got it"  
He nodded, took the cup and looking as if he was about to gag forced it down. "That tasted rather nice." He was surprised.  
"Hey, it's working. That potion you gave me, it's working, my leg doesn't hurt so much anymore." N. Tropy looked stunned.  
Treezan looked smug. "Told you it would work." Her gaze returned to Oxide. "See"  
He thanked her.  
"Just lie still for a little while longer before you try getting up again"  
Oxide looked at her. "What's your name"  
"Treezan," she replied.  
"So you don't chew when you eat"  
"Nope, my jaw isn't designed to chew, I swallow my food whole. Like a shark." Her eyes were taking on a reddish colour.  
Dingodile stared at her. "Are you getting hungry"  
"Uh-huh." She turned back to Oxide. "My metabolism burns iron pretty fast so I have to eat daily amounts of raw meat as well as doses of straight iron to stop me slipping into a coma," she explained. Her eyes were a lot more redder than they were a few seconds ago.  
"How far away are we from the Canteen?" Joe asked looking worried. If Treezan didn't eat soon, she would be driven mad with the hunger and would try to eat the nearest meat source available which happened to be them. However she was also in danger of slipping into a coma and dying.

His first thought when he regained conciousness was What the hell happened to my sandwich? His vision fazed in and out. He could hear movement in the room. "Hey, is everyone all right?" He called out. There was a sharp stinging pain in his right shoulder which he didn't like the feel of.  
A few muffled groans answered his question.  
"Tiny not okay," Tiny growled. " Who speaking"  
"Pinstripe. Who else is here"  
"Papu Papu," said one voice in the far corner.  
"Koala Kong," said a voice by the door.  
A whimper sounded right by his ear. He turned to look, sitting up as he did so. It was as if someone had poured acid on his shoulder. The whole right side of his chest exploded with pain. "Aaargh." He collapsed back to the floor.  
He felt something nudge his other shoulder. He turned his head to look. "Ripper Roo"  
The blue kangaroo's snout broke out into a toothy grin and his tongue lolled out but no insane cackle came from his mouth. Pinstripe was suddenly struck by the seriousness of the situation.  
Ripper Roo whined and nudged at the sharp piece of metal piercing his shoulder. So that's what's causing the pain. Pinstripe was suddenly aware that his hands were trapped. One was uncomfortably trapped beneath his back, the other was pinned down by a heap of metal. "Rip, you're going to have to pull it out for me"  
The kangaroo clamped his teeth onto the bit of metal and gently pulled it out. Pinstripe winced. "Thanks buddy. Now go check on everyone else"  
Ripper Roo obediantly obeyed.  
He raised his head and looked around. His right leg was trapped beneath a pile of metal. It was heavy but wasn't cutting off the circulation. Of all his limbs, only his left leg was free. He arched his back and slowly and carefully brought his left arm out from beneath him. It screamed protest for having been trapped in that unnatural position for so long.  
Ripper Roo reappeared. He tilted his head and watched Pinstripe.  
"Oh hi. How are the others"  
The blue kangaroo smiled.  
"Good." He raised his voice so he could be heard. "Hey, can any of you help me? My right arm and leg are trapped"  
Tiny's head appeared. "I help." He lifted the metal easily and threw it aside.  
Pinstripe's right hand began to ache as the blood flowed back into it. He carefully sat up. He was remarkabley unscathed despite the obvious destruction and excluding his right shoulder which stung everytime he moved his arm. He looked up at Tiny who hadn't moved.  
"Thanks. Go find out if the others need help, I'm all right"  
Tiny nodded and moved away.  
He climbed slowly to his feet. Ripper Roo whined and moved closer.  
"I'm all right"  
Ripper Roo whined again and poked at his injured shoulder with his snout.  
Pinstripe cursed when he noticed the dark patch forming on his suit. Now that he was sitting up, the blood was flowing freely. He got up carefully and looked around the dark room. "Computer lights." Nothing happened. He sighed, the lights were down.  
Suddenly, he was alert. A noise was drifting down the corridor. The others stopped grumbling and moaning to listen. As the noise came closer, it started to sound more and more like some wild animal snarling. He braced himself for some kind of fight. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the others tensing and getting ready to spring into action.  
A soft growling issued from Ripper Roo's throat. Suddenly he stopped and tilted his head. He smiled.  
Pinstripe frowned. "What is it Rip, you recognise. . . of course, I recognise that snarling anywhere, it's Treezan." He grinned around at the others.  
They visibly relaxed and began tending to their wounds.  
The door opened and Dingodile, Treezan, Tropy, Komodo Joe and Oxide entered the room.  
Dingodile had Treezan's branches pinned down by her side with one arm and was restraining her head with the other. She was alternating between animalistic snarls and pleas for food.  
"Come on D, you don't need both ears, let me have one. . . " She broke off into snarling. "How about you Joe, just a bit of your tale. . . " Again into snarling. " Tropy, your leg's pretty much busted, let me have it. . ." More snarling. "Hey Oxide, what about one of your feet, you've got four you can spare one"  
They all tried to ignore her pleas but still couldn't stop the remaining colour draining from their faces.  
Pinstripe raised his eyebrows at the group. "Treezan hungry then"  
"No of course not," Tropy remarked sarcasticly. He limped over to what was left of the kitchen area and pulled open the fridge, accidently pulling the damaged door off. Dumping it, he selected some raw meat. To save Tropy the trouble of crossing over to him, Dingodile went to him. Treezan struggled violently in his arms when she locked eyes on the piece of meat in her mentor's hand.  
"Give her the meat quick, I dunno how much longer I can hold her"  
Gingerly, the doctor held the meat out. Treezan practically inhaled it. He pulled out another and another until Treezan had stopped thrashing and her eyes were her normal black. Komodo Joe had already located her iron tablets and popping off the lid, he poured five down her mouth. Only once she had swallowed them did Dingodile let her go.  
The tree creature beamed sheepishly around at the group. "Sorry for what I said guys"  
Tropy smiled and patted his creation on the head between her antlers. "Forget about it, you were just hungry"  
Komodo Joe looked around at the others. "You guys all right"  
"Yeah," they droned.  
The lizard grimaced in sympathy.  
Ripper Roo whined and touched his snout to Pinstripe's wound.  
He looked down at the blood stain which was considerably larger than it had been a few minutes ago. "Oh, shit! I'm not okay"  
Treezan immediately went to his assistance. "Ouch. Do we still have the medkit"  
"Here," Oxide handed it to her.  
She pulled out a bandage and began tending to his wound.  
Joe looked at Tropy then around at the wreckage looking for a bench left intact. After finding one, he turned it over with his good hand and indicated that Tropy should sit on it. The Englishman did so, gratefully.  
Dingodile scratched his chin. "So what do you think happened"  
"To quote N. Gin, 'Apparantly we hit something.'" Treezan replied as she finished bandaging Pinstripe's shoulder.  
He rolled his eyes, "Really now. Gee, I couldn't have guessed that"  
Pinstripe attempted to smile but it faltered and came out as a wince.  
"Is there any way to contact Cortex?" N. Tropy wondered aloud.  
Joe looked around. "There's a comm unit over there." So saying that, he crossed over to it and pressed the comm button. "Komodo Joe to Dr. Cortex"  
"Yes"  
"Dr. N. Tropy for you sir"  
"Go ahead, Tropy"  
"Dr. Cortex, do you require my assisstance on the Bridge"  
"Are you hurt"  
"My leg is broken"

Cortex looked round at N. Gin who was fixing a console. "N. Gin, do you need any help"  
"All the help I can get," he replied without looking away from his work.  
Cortex then looked at N. Brio. The scientist was leaning back against the main console, his arms folded carefully across his chest. He had given up trying to decipher the new keyboard language and was just simply observing the current occupants of the room. He returned Cortex's stare.  
"Can you help him"  
Brio snorted "I'm a chemist not a technician"  
Cortex frowned. "You built the Evolvo Ray"  
He rolled his eyes. "Yes, I did. But I didn't build this"  
N. Gin paused and stared at Brio. "Do you know which tools are what"  
"I do"  
"Good, then you come over here and help me. N. Tropy as well when he gets up here"  
Cortex turned back to the com as Brio went to assist N. Gin. "I trust you heard that N. Tropy"  
"I did and I'm on my way"  
"Take your time. . . Speaking of which, do you think your Time Twister survived"  
"I sincerely doubt it"  
"All right then. Report here to aid with repairing the Bridge then you can get to work fixing your Time Twister. I have a feeling we may need it later on"  
"Affirmative"

Treezan sighed. "I would object to your going, Tropy but you probably wouldn't listen"  
"You are but a minion, Treezan"  
Her eyes narrowed. "I'm also the Head Medic on this station and in that respect I have a higher authority." She sighed again. "But the Space Station does need fixing. Very well, I shall come too and assist in anyway I can"  
"What should we do?" asked Dingodile.  
Joe pressed the com button again. " Dr. Cortex, are the scanners online"  
"N. Gin's still working on it"  
"Then may I suggest that all who are well enough tour the Space Station to evaluate the damage"  
"Excellent idea, Joe," Cortex replied. "Report back as soon as you can"  
"Yes sir"  
Pinstripe addressed the others. "All right guys, you heard what Joe said. Are you up for it"  
There were a few confidant "Yeah's.  
"O.k. I reccomend we go around in pairs," he glanced at Joe who nodded in agreement.  
N. Tropy stood up. "Come Treezan, we shall leave them to it. Our presence is required on the Bridge." The two left.  
"Pinstripe mate, I'll go with you," Dingodile offered.  
"I'll wait here for my brother. I doubt that he's of any use on the Bridge," said Joe.  
"Right. Koala Kong, you go with Oxide. Papu Papu you go with Tiny and Roo's coming with us. All right people, let's move out"

**Power: There we go see? I told you it was much better than my Enter Treezan. Well that was very clearly the end of Chapter 1. Chapter 2 ASAP.**


	2. Chapter 2: Damage Report

**Power: Thanks to my readers for their kind reviews. Uh, punctuation? Funny, I though that was all right. Oh. . . okay. . . Well I've read through this chapter numerous times. If I've still missed stuff, I apoogise.  
A word of warning. This chapter tends to jump back and forth between people. I just hope it doesn't get too confusing. Unlike last time, the action happens exactly how it's written, although at the start of some scenes, I've skipped ahead, mostly because it's unnessecary to write and easy to figure out what's gone on between the lines. Enjoy.**

Chapter 2: Damage Report

Dingodile heaved the debris out of the way and dropped it down on the sides of the corridor, turning to Pinstripe as he dusted off his hands. Ripper Roo bounded ahead with a yelp of glee.  
"Hey Rip!" Pinstripe warned. "Watch it, the ceiling could cave in on you"  
The pair flinched as sparks burst out of a ruptured cable.  
Dingodile looked ahead. "Looks safe"  
"That's not the point." He sighed and shook his head, typing in the damage observed into a half-working data pad, which was often unable to accept the letters that Pinstripe typed in. So far his damage report read something like this; 'Celin cavd n at Levl 2, Are 2. Debrs blokin of part f corridr leding to Ara 3'  
"Let's keep going"  
"How many more Areas left?" Dingodile asked.  
The potoroo shot him a look. "You work here and you don't know the layout of Cortex's Space Station"  
He shrugged. "That knock on the head has given me partial amnesia"  
"Yeah right. That's a good excuse. Fine, I'll refresh your memory. The Space Station has four levels. Level 1 has the Bridge, Tactical Command, the Ready or Meeting Room, Astrometrics and Cortex's quarters. Level 2 has the Canteen and Sickbay as well as all our rooms and is divided into five areas. Level 3 has the four Docking Bays and Holographics. Level 4 is Engineering and Doc N. Gin's, N. Brio's and N. Tropy's Labs and finally Level 5 is the Cargo Hold"  
"Ah. I think I remember. Me, Moe, Joe and Tropy were in Holographics playing Poker when. . . it, happened"  
"Yeah and I was in the Canteen. . . Never got to finish my sandwich"  
"Oh woe is you," Dingodile remarked with a smile.

Joe looked up from examining the splint around his arm when he heard a noise outside. He was completely still and strained his ears to hear as the noise continued. It sounded like something stepping on pieces of fallen ceiling. The thing outside cursed as it trod on something sharp.  
He blinked. "Moe"  
"Joe"  
The Canteen doors slid open and in stepped Moe. "What are you doing in here"  
"Waiting for you"  
"But why here"  
"Treezan required feeding"  
Moe nodded. "Ah. Where is she"  
"Herself and Doc Tropy headed off to the Bridge. Didn't you pass them"  
"Nope. Must've taken a different lift. So what do we do now? Where are the others"  
"Scouting the ship to assess the damage"  
"Damage Report"  
"Indeed. Did you hurt your foot"  
Moe was a little taken aback by the sudden change of topic. "Uh. . . Yeah. I trod on some metal. Went into my foot"  
"Come here. Let me have a look"  
Moe limped over and sat down on the bench Tropy had been sitting on previously. He held up his foot for his brother to inspect. Joe grasped his ankle with his free hand and peered closely at the wound. "There's still some metal left. I'll pick it out for you"  
Moe winced as Joe's claws nicked his wound drawing fresh blood.  
"Done," he said wiping his claws against his robe. "Wait here and I'll get a medkit"

"Papu Papu hungry," he said aloud.  
"Papu Papu always hungry," Tiny remarked.  
He grunted in response to the remark as he entered the unlocking sequence for Docking Bay 2. They stepped inside and without being ordered to, Tiny shifted a heavy ceiling strut with ease. Papu Papu noted the damage and looked around the rest of the huge room, pausing to peer over the ramp railings to the floor of the Docking Bay below.  
The small droids created by N. Gin and Tropy to maintain and repair the Space Station were already clustered around and repairing part of the massive hole in the Space Station's left side, the side in which Docking Bay 2 and 3 were in. They were officially called M.A.R.U.s which stood for Maintenance And Repair Units until Dingodile coined the name Maru. The first job for the Marus was to secure the damage site, if it was a gaping hole in the Space Station's side or a hull breach in proper terms, this was to establish a force field, thus preventing poor hapless victims from being blown out into space along with the Space Station's oxygen levels. This also prevented Docking Bay 2's current organic residents, Papu Papu and Tiny Tiger from disappearing the moment the hatches opened.  
Papu Papu entered the obvious damage before nodding to Tiny. He nodded back and the two left the Docking Bay to assess the condition of the next.

Oxide cast a critical eye around Engineering. "Shouldn't Engineering having priority over the Bridge"  
Koala Kong looked over his shoulder from rescuing a trapped Maru. "Well yes it should, but Doc N. Gin and Tropy are trying to repair the scanners so they can get an idea of the ship's condition"  
"Then what are we doing"  
"Casting analytical eyes over the obvious damage this Space Station has recieved. Although just looking won't inform us of the extent of the damage to the circuitry"  
"Then why are we bothering"  
"It's called a preliminary report. And as you can see the Marus have already got to work reparing what they can. Their priority is the site of damage above everything else. Then while three quarters of the Marus commit themselves to the damage site, the rest get to work on other damaged areas"  
Oxide sighed. "I wish I had some of these. It's not easy running a ship by myself"  
"After this has finished, perhaps we can negotiate." Kong looked back at the Maru. One of its bretheren had just finished repairing it and the two zoomed off.  
"How did you find us"  
Oxide looked up from the data pad he was examining. "What"  
"How did you find us"  
"I didn't exactly. My ship got caught in the blast. I've docked with your ship"  
"Hmm. The Marus are also programmed to repair any damaged ship docked with us. A few would have broken off to repair your ship"  
The small alien brightened considerably at that and turned back to typing a damage report into the data pad with a broad grin on his face.

Cortex sighed and shook his head, placing his hands on his hips.  
N. Brio gast a glance in his direction. "No luck"  
"None"  
"I told you it was impossible"  
He folded his arms and glared at the console accusingly. "How are the scanners coming"  
"Almost there," N. Gin replied. "Some pliers if you don't mind"  
N. Brio quickly fished a pair out from the tool box, the handle of which was clasped in Treezan's branches. The two were acting as tool suppliers for the two physicists, Treezan as Tropy's supplier.  
Cortex moved away from the console and stood behind Brio and Treezan, staring over their shoulders at N. Gin and Tropy's progress.

Moe limped along behind Joe as the pair headed for a lift.  
"We take the lift down to the Cargo Hold, assess the damage then come back"  
"Is this going to involve a lot of walking"  
"Just to the lift. I'll go around and look at the damage in the Cargo Hold," he said gesturing with a data pad "and you can stay in the lift"  
"No it's not that bad, I'll help"

Pinstripe pointed to a door. "There, that's Kong's room and the last one we have to check before we can go back"  
Ripper Roo bounded over to the door and pressed the button to open the door. The button beeped in response to being pressed but nothing else happened.  
"That means the door's jammed," he sighed.  
"I'll wrench it open." Dingodile stepped forward, wedged his claws into the gap between the door and the wall and with great effort hauled the door open. He fell back gasping. "Phew"  
The wannabe gangster poked his head in and looked around. "Kong's lucky his room's on the other side of the Space Station otherwise his room would look a lot more messy than this. He typed the damage assessment into the data pad. "All right, that's this level done, now we can head back"

Papu Papu looked Oxide's ship over. The ramp they were standing on led right up to the door in the side of the cockpit. The large green spaceship just about fit into the Docking Bay. The docking clamps latched firmly onto the wings, securing it in place. A few Marus were clustered around damaged spots in the hull and on the faulty engine. The main damage was on the ship's left side, the side facing away from Papu Papu and Tiny.  
He looked around the Docking Bay at the damage that was in view but most of it was blocked by Oxide's ship. As it was located on the opposite side to the impact, there was little damage anyway. He noted this down and turned to Tiny. "Last left to check is Holographics"  
"Is much point"  
Papu Papu thought then shook his head. "No. We head back and tell others"

"Are we done?" Oxide asked.  
"No. We still have to check the Laboratories. I'm certain Doc Tropy would particularly like to know the condition of his Time Twister"  
He sighed. "Whatever," and followed Kong's lead.

"Here we are," said Joe with a flourish. "The Cargo Hold"  
Moe stepped out and looked around. "Doesn't look that bad. . . if you ignore that big hole over there"  
Joe walked around to the other side of the lift. The lift shaft came down right in the middle of the Cargo Hold. The Cargo Hold itself took up an entire level. There hadn't been much cargo in it, just spare parts for the ship and other mechanical devices and bed clothes and blankets. Food and water was handled by the replicators.  
Before the Marus could create the force field, a substantial amount of cargo had migrated to the depths of deep space. A few crates could actually be seen floating amoungst the stars.  
Moe was correct in his statement. The only major damage to the Cargo Hold itself was a big hole in one wall and scorch marks from the blast. Most of the cargo was now either in space or had been incinerated or scorched by the heat from the explosion. Very few crates were left untouched.  
Joe smiled at his brother. "As I said before. No walking at all." He typed the damage report into the data pad. "Now we can go back"  
"Is that it? That was quick"  
"Well as you said yourself. The damage isn't that bad"  
Moe nodded and headed back into the lift, Joe right behind him. He pressed the button to close the doors. "Level 2." And the lift ascended.

"There, got it!" N. Gin informed the Bridge triumphantly. Brio immediately left his post and went over to one of the front consoles, beating Cortex to it. He stopped.  
"Wait a minute"  
"What?" asked Cortex.  
"We still don't understand the computer language"  
He groaned. "N. Gin, see what you can make of it"  
N. Gin stood up and joined Brio at the console. "Interesting," he said staring at it.  
N. Tropy gestured for Treezan to aide him in standing. Together, they crossed over to the console. "Allow me to help you"  
"Certainly"  
The two scientists got to work, Treezan, Brio and Cortex watching them intently.  
"Pinstripe to Dr. Cortex"  
Cortex spun around. "Ahah. The preliminary damage report. Excellent." He pressed the comm button on his chair arm. "Go ahead Pinstripe"  
The potoroo obediantly obliged Cortex the information his team had aquired.  
"Good work Pinstripe. Inform the others of your findings when they arrive then tell them to report theirs to me"  
"Understood"  
The comm clicked off and Cortex rejoined the group clustered around the console. "What do you make of it so far"  
"It looks difficult. It may take a while," Tropy informed him.  
"Well it appears that time is on our side. Do your best"

Pinstripe, Dingodile and Ripper Roo turned to investigate as the Canteen door slid open. "Moe, Joe"  
"Ah, greetings, you're back," said Joe.  
"Only just," said Pinstripe. "What's your report"  
"The only major damage in the Cargo Hold is the impact site. Other than damage to the cargo, there's nothing else"  
"Good. Now tell that to Dr. Cortex"

"So that's the Time Twister"  
"Marvellous isn't it?" said Koala Kong with a grin. "One wonders what Tropy originally built it for. It's doubtful that he built it for Uka Uka. I speculate that there was a more personal reason involved"  
"Like what"  
"None of our business. If he wants to tell us, he shall. No one can force him too"  
"Where is Uka Uka by the way"  
"I believe that he is challanging his twin, Aku Aku to a fight to the death, now that he is convinced that he has 'accumulated enough power"  
"You don't sound like you believe that"  
Kong sighed. "Aku Aku is a, shall we say, good guy. It is a well known fact that good always prevails over evil. And in light of current events, that theory has certainly been proved countless times. Thus fighting against Crash Bandicoot is a lost cause, one we will never win"  
Oxide raised an eyebrow and peered at Kong closely. "Do your. . . friends know of your opinion"  
Kong snorted. "They do not and I endeavour to keep it that way. Especially from Cortex. If he found out. . . well let's just say that I will spend the rest of my days homeless"  
"Wouldn't that Bandicoot take you in"  
He barked out a laugh. "They may have taken Crunch in, but he was being controlled, I am not. I do this out of my own free will. They would never trust me"  
"But you don't believe in fighting Crash Bandicoot"  
"I don't no, but it is too late for me to switch sides. And Cortex isn't all that bad. Therefore I shall continue to fight Crash Bandicoot and will probably do so until my death, whenever that is"  
Oxide stared at him, intruiged. "You're a very fascinating individual"  
Kong smiled. "Thank you Nitrous Oxide"  
Oxide opened his mouth to say something, considering bestowing Kong the honour of calling him by his first name, then decided against it, Perhaps later, he thought, closing his mouth.  
"Shall we continue"  
He nodded and went back to adding information to the damage report.  
"Once we finish this, there's just Doc Brio's lab before we can head back. I wonder if there's a working comm unit around"

"Ah Papu Papu and Tiny Tiger, glad you could join us," Pinstripe greeted them cheerfully with open arms.  
"That just leaves Kong and Oxide," Dingodile noted.  
"They're analysing Engineering right?" asked Moe.  
"Yeah, that's right," said Pinstripe.  
Joe nodded. "As well as N. Gin, Tropy and Brio's Labs. So they'll have the longest job"  
"They should be back soon," said Dingodile.  
"Anyway," said Pinstripe turning back to Papu and Tiny. "Report to Cortex and we can listen in on the damage report. Then we'll tell you ours"

"Thank you Papu Papu," said Cortex into his comm unit. The comm clicked off. "So far, it seems that Level 1 and 2 have taken the most damage, which means that the thing, whatever it was, hit us in the upper middle of the left side"  
"Engineering still could have taken the most damage considering that's where the most of the electronics are," said N. Gin.  
"I'd be most interested to hear how my Time Twister faired"  
"All in good time, Tropy." Treezan smiled at her unintentional pun. 

Power: I'm now working on the third chapter. It'll properly introduce another of my Crash fancharacters. 


	3. Chapter 3: Unexpected Visitor

**Power: I'd like to credit RG for the inspiration of the invention of the fancharacter being presented in this chapter. I shall explain more afterwards. This is also the shortest chapter. And I may have the first half of this fanfic finished by the fourth of fifth.**

Chapter 3: Unexpected Visitor

Dingodile furrowed his brow as he tried desperately to remember the events that occurred before he lost consciousness. "Come on, come on. . "  
The entire complement had gathered in Cortex's Ready Room. The only two exceptions were N. Gin and Tropy who were still working on deciphering the new language, although they had a comm open so they could listen in to what was being said and add their thoughts. Pinstripe had rescued some food from the Canteen, mainly chocolate bars, biscuits, fruit and crisps. These were being distributed around.  
Dingodile sighed. "Nope, nothing. All I can remember is a loud explosion and then being thrown across the room"  
Cortex nodded. "It seems that's the only thing anyone can remember. What we need to know is the reason we came out here in the first place"  
Tropy's voice came over the comm. "We can look at the Space Station's records when we have deciphered the language. . . If they're still intact"  
Pinstripe turned to look at Oxide. "What were you doing out here"  
Oxide shrugged.  
"Is it possible then, that you were investigating the same thing we were"  
He thought then nodded. "It's possible"  
"Why don't we go down and have a look at your ship's records"  
"That's a good idea," said Koala Kong.  
They got up and headed down to Docking Bay 4.

The cockpit was too small to hold everyone so only Oxide, Cortex and Brio were now looking through the records. Oxide bashed his fist against the main console in frustration. "I don't believe it. The blast damaged my records"  
Cortex sighed "Ah well. Back to square 1"  
"You appear to have recieved a transmission quite recently," said Brio pointing at the screen where something was written in Gasmoxian. Beside the writing was a date, clearly indicating that it was a transmission.  
Oxide selected it and played it back. A tall Gasmoxian appeared on the screen dressed regally in red robes. He said something in Gasmoxian. Unfortunately the damage to the ship's memory banks caused the message to blank out for a few seconds several times, although it was still easy to get the gist of it. . . if you understood Gasmoxian, which only Oxide could. The message ended.  
"Who was that?" asked Brio still staring at the screen.  
"What did he say?" asked Cortex.  
"Who he was doesn't matter, let's just say, he's very important. As for what was said, I have been called back to Gasmoxia." His tone suggested that he had no intention of complying.

"So," said Pinstripe as he looked around. "What do we do now"  
The group had reassembled in the Ready Room.  
"Get some rest," said Treezan. "I'm going to go down to Medics to find some working molecular repairers and I'll come round to each of your rooms. If you can't get to sleep, I'll give you a sedative"  
The group murmured agreement which was then covered up by the scraping of chairs as the company stood up and headed to their rooms.  
"I'll be in my ship," Oxide informed her.

She followed N. Brio as he wandered back onto the Bridge to see if he could help. "You should rest too"  
He blinked. "Are you talking to me"  
"Not directly"  
Tropy glanced over his shoulder. "Fixing the ship is the top priority Treezan"  
"Your priority, not mine. I don't like to to pull my weight as Chief Medical Officer but my authority does override yours. Off you go"  
All three scientists stared at her.  
"Look, I only have your health in mind"  
Brio shrugged. "I feel fine"  
Treezan didn't reply but marched over to him and gave him as full a medical review as was possible without the proper equipment. Calmly returning his stare she said, "You have a accelerated pulse rate and you're shaking." She grabbed his wrist and held it up to emphasise her point. "You have mild shock"  
Brio sighed, relenting. Treezan turned her attention back to the two scientists as he left the Bridge. "All right fine, one of you stays. You can swap around when he wakes up"  
"You do have the more serious injury, N. Gin"  
N. Gin scowled but nodded reluctantly and left the Bridge, Treezan following.

Dingodile lay on his bed, arms folded behind his head. He stared resolutely up at the ceiling, wanting to fall asleep, knowing he was tired, yet here he was, still awake. He passed the next minute using the "Counting Sheep" method but to no avail. Dingodile sighed and turned over, wishing Treezan was here with the sedative.

Komodo Joe lifted the pillow off his head and glared down at the snoring form of Komodo Moe in the bunk bed below his. With the pillow in one hand, he leaned over as far as he could without falling and whacked Moe over the head with it. In response, the lizard rolled over onto his side and silence descended. Joe smiled and settled back down to sleep, carefully positioning his broken arm.

Ripper Roo shifted restlessly in his basket. He leaned into the touch when a hand reached down and scratched him between the ears. Pinstripe stopped scratching him when the kangaroo settled down. He turned over, cursed when a twinge of pain shot through the right half of his chest and settled down to sleep himself. Within a few minutes, he was snoring lightly. Roo stood up and noticed that Pinstripe had only half the duvet over him. He grabbed the end with his teeth and pulled up it up the rest of the way, up to the potoroo's chin.

Koala Kong stopped reading the book, _The DaVinci Code briefly_ to thumb through the rest of pages to find where the chapter ended. Once he had reached the end he put the book down to stare up at the ceiling as he processed the information presented to him. Pausing, he assessed himself. He wasn't feeling tired and deduced that he would probably require the sedative when Treezan checked up on him. Then he started on the next chapter.

Papu Papu couldn't get off to sleep. The usual cure was a sandwich washed down with a glass of warm milk. He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, about to get up and head for the Mess Hall until he realised that Treezan wouldn't be happy if she arrived while he was gone. Muttering discontent in his native tongue, he lay back down and tried to occupy himself until the healer arrived.

Tiny Tiger snored away, loudly, sound asleep.

Nitrous Oxide got up and walked through from his quarters to the cockpit. He sat down at the console and brought up the message that Cortex and Brio had seen. He played it back, his eyes narrowing.

Dr. Nitrus Brio rubbed his forehead as he stared at his computer screen. Unable to sleep like so many others, he had logged onto his computer to check his mail box. Most of the emails were just newsletters from Science magazines such as New Scientist. The sender of the last email made him sit up and smile.

Dr. N. Gin reached into Tropy's toolbox and picked out a pair of wire clippers. He had bought up his toolbox to the Bridge and it was still there for Tropy to use. N. Gin had decided to borrow Tropy's and was using the tools to fix the Maru he was currently attending too. Seriously damaged Marus were dragged to Engineering to be repaired. Although Marus were able to fix each other, if the repair work took too long it would prevent them from performing their primary function. The Maru he was now fixing was one of six that had been dragged down. For N. Gin the damage was easy to repair and he was confident that he'd be finished by the time Treezan got down here to check on him.

Dr. Neo Cortex switched of the vidcam. He'd just finished speaking with Nina, informing her of their current situation and persuading her that he was fine and not to worry about him. Realising with a yawn that he was tired, decided to call it a day and headed off to bed.

Treezan picked through the wreckage that was the remains of Medics. One molecular repairer had been spared. They were large ungainly things and bore a passing resemblence to a hoover. The box contained the battery that powered the repairer which was the torchlike object attached to the long tube that snaked away from the box. She checked the battery level and saw to her dismay that the power was low. They were taken down and recharged in Engineering. Handy as the first person she intended to check was either Cortex or N. Gin. It looked like the latter followed by Cortex, then the next serious injury and so on down the list. She grabbed the handle that unfolded from the top of the box and picked it up to lug down to the turbo lift.

. . .

The Space Station had been quiet for hours. The only occupant awake was Dr. Nefarious Tropy. Treezan had used the molecular repairer on him before she took herself back to Medics to get some sleep. Tropy was too fixated on his work to be bothered by lonliness. He stopped scowling over the new language that was proving more challanging than he had given it credit for and rubbed his temples. He was starting to get a headache. Perhaps now was the time to stop for a break. He was also getting hungry and realised that he hadn't eaten anything since regaining consciousness. The comm bleeped making him jump to his feet in surprise. With only a moments hesitation, Tropy crossed over to Cortex's chair and activated the comm. "Tropy here"  
"Tropy, this is N. Gin"  
"You must be informing me that it's your turn"  
"I am"  
"Perfect timing," he glanced down at his shaking hands. "The Bridge is all yours"  
"On my way"  
The comm clicked off and Tropy strolled out of the Bridge, heading for his room.

N. Gin entered shortly after N. Tropy had left. He glanced around at the English scientist's work. Most of the Bridge was now repaired. It was just the new computer language left to sort out before the real repair work could begin. With wasting anymore time, he got to work.

. . .

Dr. Neo Cortex strolled onto the Bridge. He'd noticed that his splitting headache had disappeared as had the dizzyness. "N. Gin, status report." He nodded acknowledgement to N. Brio.  
"Most of the Bridge is repaired. Progress on deciphering the new language is slow. N. Tropy has interpreted some of it, I have interpreted more, but I approximate that our combined efforts have only dechipered twenty percent"  
"That's almost a quarter. Good work"  
N. Gin nodded and continued to work. All three occupants turned their heads when the door to the Bridge opened to admit a newcomer. Nitrous Oxide joined them, meeting their guarded stares with a challening look.  
"And what brings you to the Bridge?" Cortex asked politely.  
The Gasmoxian shrugged. "I had nothing better to do. Most of the others are asleep. Those who are awake, aren't in a talking mood"  
The console beside the one N. Gin was working at bleeped at them. Brio was the first to reach it. He frowned at it. "We're being approached by some sort of ship"  
"What kind?" asked Cortex.  
"I have no idea, the external scanners can't identify it." A pause. "We're being hailed, audio and visual. Should I respond"  
Cortex nodded.  
The contacter appeared on the viewscreen. Three of the four Bridge occupants uttered a gasp. The contacter was the same Gasmoxian in the message.  
"You!" Oxide was wearing an expression of utter shock. He said something further, but it was in his native tongue. Judging by his expression and his tone, it was easy to figure out that he'd said something along the lines of "What are you doing here"  
The red-robed Gasmoxian replied in a harsh tone. Oxide responded. The Gasmoxian replyed with a comment that Oxide acted curiously too. He held his tongue and glared down at his feet.  
"Do forgive my manners. I saw your Space Station was damaged and I thought you might need some help"  
"Uh, well. . . we have onboard some very capable engineers and a healer, but I thank you for your offer. . . uh. . . who are you"  
"I am the ruler of Gasmoxia. My name is Sulphurous Oxide"  
"Oxide?" Asked Brio. "Funny, that's the"  
"I am fully aware that I share the same surname with our planet's fastest racer. It is not uncommon to find two unrelated people with the same surname, is it not"  
"Well no. . . I guess not"  
Sulphurous smiled. "In this case, you are correct to query the coincidence. Nitrous Oxide is my son and heir to the Gasmoxian throne"  
The three humans gaped and turned to stare at Nitrous. He flinched and closed his eyes tightly, refusing to meet their gazes.  
"I don't believe it." N. Gin whispered.  
"Indeed. Nitrous has gone to considerable lengths to cover his true heritage. I have spent a great amount of time searching for him. He is afterall, my only child"  
"I'm not going back, you can't make me!" Nitrous growled.  
"I can and I will. Must we argue over this"  
"Yes! I'm not leaving this ship and that's final"  
"The throne of Gasmoxia is your birthright, Nitrous. You can't refuse it"  
The three scientists looked from one Oxide to the other as they argued back and forth, feeling more than a little awkward. Cortex quickly stepped in. "Why don't you come onboard, erm. . "  
"My title is Emporer, but you may call me Sulphurous"  
"Sulphurous then"  
"Thank you. . "  
"Dr. Neo Cortex"  
"Dr. Cortex"  
"I believe Docking Bay 1 is working now"  
Sulphurous nodded and terminated the connection.  
"What are you doing!" Nitrous stared at Cortex wide-eyed.  
"I think it's best that you settle your debate face-to-face," he replied, then added. "Your Highness"  
Nitrous' hands were around his throat before he had even registered that the Gasmoxian had moved. His tone was venomous. "Call me by that title again and I will kill you"  
Cortex swallowed and nodded, gaze flicking in the direction of a startled N. Gin and Brio. Nitrous relaxed somewhat and loosed his grip on Cortex's neck.  
Brio glanced at his console when it beeped. "The docking clamps of DB 1 have locked"  
"Let's go down and meet our new guest. Oxide, will you join us"  
Nitrous scowled. "Might as well"  
The quartet left the Bridge and took the turbo lift down to Level 4.

**Power: It looks like I'm definately going to have the main story finished by the end of the next chapter. Part 2 is what happens after the events told in Chapter 4. . . you'll see what I mean when I post it up, it's a cliffhanger ending. . . but it's kind of glaring obvious what happens next VV.  
I'll have a piccie of Sulphurous up on my website; www.powerofthewol. if you're interested. I have pictures of Treezan up and a pic of my third fancharacter.  
Anyway, I'd best get started on the fourth chapter.  
About Sulphurous. In RG's fanfics, Nitrous Oxide is descended from royalty so I thought "Yeah, that works. I like that idea." Therefore I have shamelessly borrowed the idea and altered it slightly. Sorry for my unoriginality, RG.**


	4. Chapter 4: Hidden Agenda

**Power: Sorry for the long wait. Took me a while how to figure out how to link two parts of the chapter together. Then I found out that I'd screwed up the continuity and thus, I had to add in parts of it.  
To Venom Wolf: You can get an email address from Yahoo, Hotmail or AOL. Or download AIM from so we can instant message.  
To all: My website if you want to look at pictures of Treezan and a rough pic of Sulphurous, www.powerofthewol. I'm rating this chapter a high PG-13 for a rather shocking scene that takes place near the beginning. To the fans of the character who dies. . . I don't hate him okay, I didn't kill him off because I hate him, so flame me for it and I'll take your comment and beat you over the head with it. . . hopefully after reading this chapter, you'll appreaciate the irony of that statement. On a lighter note, do enjoy reading this fanfic. . . Hmm, I don't seem to have mentioned anywhere that N. Gin, Brio and Tropy's rooms are in their labs. . .**

Chapter 4: Hidden Agenda

The two Gasmoxians stared heatedly at each other over the long table in Cortex's Ready Room. They were sitting at either end. Nitrous was stubbornly refusing to leave the ship. Sulphurous was refusing to leave the ship without him. They were getting nowhere.  
Cortex's minions had been fully informed of Sulphurous Oxide's presence and most of them had assembled in the Ready Room to listen. For the benefit of the N. Team, who were doing their best to mediate the discussion, they were both speaking English.  
"I still can't believe that obnoxious little alien is the heir to an entire planet." Pinstripe remarked in a low voice, shaking his head.  
"You and me both, mate." Dingodile replied.  
"Why don't we take a break?" Cortex sighed, rubbing his forehead.  
"Good idea," N. Gin agreed. "I'm going down to Engineering to start on the propulsion system"  
"I'll be in my ship," Oxide informed them and then added acidly, glaring at his father, "away from him"  
Sulphurous merely blinked and waited until he had left before speaking. "Would it be too much to ask for a tour of this Space Station"  
Cortex shook his head, "Not at all," and appointed Dr. N. Tropy - who was currently without his portable time twister - as guide. "Before you go, May I enquire as to what you were doing here"  
"After I discovered that my son had. . . disappeared, I sent searchships out to all parts of the galaxy that were close to Gasmoxia. Your solar system just happened to be one of them. The first time he arrived here, he left before we could reach him. This time however, my searchship recieved information that he was due to take part in a race that takes place not far from here. It was to that race that I was heading when your damaged Space Station appeared on my scanners, what happened by the way"  
Cortex shook his head. "Truly we have no idea. We're still working things out"  
Sulphurous stood up and smiled pleasantly at the scientist. "I wish you luck then." He followed Tropy out of the room.  
"All right guys," said Pinstripe. "Who's feeling hungry"  
His entourage murmured confirmation and followed him down to the Canteen.  
Cortex paused by Dr. N. Brio and then shook him by the shoulder.  
He awoke with a start, "Who, what-what"  
"We're taking a break"  
Abashed, he mumbled an apology and stood up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.  
Cortex just smiled and shook his head as he left the Ready Room. Brio hurried out after him.

The Emperor of Gasmoxia's main interest was Engineering. Tropy had fulfilled his role as guide in escorting him around the whole Space Station. As N. Gin was already in Engineering, Tropy took him down to Level 4 and let the shorter scientist take over.  
"So what does this do?" the Gasmoxian asked looking intently at the console before him.  
N. Gin looked. "That monitors the thrusters"  
Sulphurous asked after four more of the workstation's functions before, sensing the building irritation in N. Gin's voice, giving him a amiable smile. "I'm sorry, am I getting in the way"  
The scientist responded carefully so as not to offend the Emperor. "I'm in the process of repairing the thrusters which we need up an running if we are going to go anywhere. The longer we stay here, the more likely another attack will come"  
"Yes, you have a point. Very well, I shall leave you to it. I believe I know how to get to the. . . Canteen is it"  
He nodded and sat down at a console as Sulphurous turned to leave.  
The Gasmoxian stepped up close enough to the door to cause it to open in response to his presence. He turned his head to stare at the scientist, his eyes narrowed, his face set into a scowl as he stepped away, closing the door. Sulphurous crept quietly up behind N. Gin. He was starring avidly at the data readout before him and didn't notice when the spanner Sulphurous carefully picked up, scraped against his toolbox. The Gasmoxian stepped up close behind the scientist and raised the spanner high above his head.  
N. Gin noticed the reflection of the light glinting off the spanner on the screen and turned around, just as Sulphurous brought the spanner down with full force. The spanner connected with N. Gin's head with a sickening _crack_!  
He reeled as stars exploded in front of his eyes and fell off his chair, landing on the floor. Stunned and vision spinning wildly, he climbed shakily to his knees and tried to blink away the dizziness. N. Gin was suddenly aware of a warm wetness that was running down the left side of his face. He looked at the floor and noticed the increasing amount of red spots. With detached curiosity, he touched the side of his face with gloved fingers and held them up infront of his eyes. Red liquid dripped off them. Blood. His blood. He stared up at Sulphurous, who had already begun another strike. The spanner seemed to descend in slow motion. On an adrenaline high, it seemed to him that this couldn't possibly be real. Then shock finally set in and N. Gin realised that Sulphurous' intentions didn't end at knocking him out. The spanner connected again and N. Gin's world went black. . . (**A/N 1**)

Cortex flipped open the left compartment of his chair and pressed the comm button. "Dr. Cortex to N. Gin. How are the shields coming"  
Silence.  
Cortex frowned and tried again. Still nothing. He exchanged a confused look with N. Tropy. Switching to a different channel, he pressed the comm button again. "Treezan, this is Cortex"  
"Yes sir"  
"As you're nearest to Engineering, could you check on N. Gin and see how he's doing? He isn't responding"  
"Yes sir"

Treezan switched off the comm and headed out of Medics. She stepped up to the turbo lift and pressed the call button. She was surprised when Sulphurous stepped out. He smiled politely and greeted her. "Good evening"  
"Uh, good evening." Before she could question him on why he was coming up from Engineering, he had gone. Frowning slightly, she entered the turbo lift and pressed down for Engineering.

Sulphurous Oxide glanced back over his shoulder as he hurried along. He had heard Cortex's comm to Engineering. Spurred on by the prospect of discovery, he had finished cleaning himself off and hurried to the turbo lift. Sulphurous had not entirely counted on the fact that Cortex would assume that N. Gin was too busy or involved in his work to answer, but he was still surprised by Treezan's presence and for a split second thought he had been discovered.  
He saw no sign of the the tree creature, or anyone else for that matter and smirked. Of course, he had been silly to think that Cortex had sussed him out. The entire crew had been taken in by his amicable facade. And no one yet knew of N. Gin's murder. Yet. He did not have much time. He would have to hurry. (**A/N 2**)

Treezan stepped out of the lift when the doors had slid open and had taken four steps forward before she fully registered the fact that N. Gin was lying on the floor, face-down and that there was unhealthily large pool of blood beside his head.

The Gasmoxian scanned Medics looking for a particular tranquiliser. Apparantly, luck was on his side. Finding one that worked on Gasmoxians, one that apparantly was a stimulant for humans rather than a relaxant, he slid it out of the holder and, grasping it firmly in his right hand, hurried from the room towards the turbo lift. He took this down to the Docking Bay. (**A/N 3**)

The first thing she did was scream in horror. The next was to dash forward and kneel by his side. It didn't take a GP to tell he was no longer amoungst the living. His complexion was deathly-pale and the open wound on his head, obviously fatal. Even though this was clear to her, an experienced healer, she put two twig-fingers to his neck, checking for a pulse. But found none.  
Thoroughly shaken, she backed away from him, into a corner of the room and wrapped her branches around her knees, trembling. It was then that she spotted the bloodied spanner which had been discarded and a wave of nausea swept over her. Treezan put her forehead on her knees and sat there, weeping until Cortex's voice came over the com. "Treezan? Are you there"  
The tree creature uncurled from the corner and walked on wobbly knees over to the com. She pressed the button and practically wailed confirmation into the microphone. (**A/N 4**)

Cortex stared at the speaker, puzzled. "What on Earth's the matter"  
"He's dead," came the high-pitched reply.  
". . . I'm sorry. . . What"  
"He's dead"  
Cortex couldn't believe his ears. "I don't understand"  
Treezan inhaled and tried to explain as well as she could. Her voice tremeloed from high to low as she attempted to keep her voice steady. "Sulphurous Oxide was in the lift (sniff) from Engineering. . . I though it was odd, but (sniff) he'd gone before I could ask. Then I, I go down to Engineering like you said and (choked sob) I find him, N. Gin. . ." Treezan broke down. "And-and. . . Oxide has beaten him over the head with a spanner." Her last words were almost unintelligible.  
Tropy and Brio exchanged stunned looks before looking to Cortex. The dimuitive scientist sat in his chair, shocked. "I don't. . . But why"  
Before anyone could respond, Brio's console bleeped for attention. "Um, Cortex. The docking clamps in DB 1 have been broken. . . And we're being hailed"  
Cortex nodded. "Open a channel"  
Sulphurous Oxide appeared on the viewing screen. The scientist was on his feet in outrage. "How dare you! In response to our hospitality, you murder my friend and then have the gall to show your face to me"  
Sulphurous smirked. "You humiliated my son"  
Cortex gaped. "That's it?" his voice soared up into the alto range. "That's why? For something as petty as that"  
The Gasmoxian laughed and shook his head. "Of course not. In order to take over your planet, we need to destroy all who would stand in our way, starting with you since you were so conveniantly placed. Anyway, you should already have been dead. All of you! But you got lucky. Nitrous' ship was too close. The mine got confused and didn't hit you full on"  
Cortex sank into his chair. "You. It was you. You sent the mine"  
"Well done Doctor Neo Cortex. As the mine didn't do what it was supposed to, I came to finish the job"  
"But. . . your son"  
"Is safe on board with me"  
"He was in on this as well then"  
"Actually no. I had to knock him out and drag him on board. . . Not that that matters now." He smirked wickedly. "There's nothing that can save you now, Cortex. Your luck has just run out"  
Tropy stared at his console. "I'm getting massive power readings from Oxide's ship." He swallowed and added. "I think he's powering up his weapons"  
"Raise shields"  
Brio gave him an indecipherable look. "What shields"  
Sulphurous chuckled maliciously. "What now Cortex? You have no shields, no weapons and your engines don't work"  
Cortex took a full five seconds to process the information. He gave Tropy a meaningful look. The English scientist understood immediately and sprinted from the room, faster than he had ever ran before.  
An age seemed to drag by as the turbo lift descended and the doors to Engineering finally opened. He bolted from the lift and ran flat out to his lab. The scene that met his eyes shocked him to the core. The Time Twister had been smashed. Tropy's knees buckled and he collapsed to the floor, on the verge of tears. "What now?" he choked out. His eyes fell on his portable time twister. Miraculously, Sulphurous hadn't noticed it and it had been spared. He got to his feet and ran back to Treezan. The tree creature was huddled beside N. Gin, holding onto his left hand and weeping piteously. He grasped Treezan's shoulder and shook her. "We don't have much time," he said urgently, "I need your help. Can you pull yourself together"  
She sniffed and peered at him through tear-filled eyes and nodded.  
"Good." He grasped her hand and dragged her back to the Time Twister. Taking his portable time twister off its stand, he turned back to her. "Help me put this on"  
Sniffing, she obeyed. While he buckled one side, cursing his trembling hands, Treezan did the other. Her tears clouded her vision and she fumbled with the buckles.

Brio's eyes widened as he read the power readout suddenly stop building. A short yelp escaped his throat before Sulphurous' weapon punched through the Bridge of the Space Station, instantly incinerating him and then a few seconds later, Cortex. The white-hot laser beam ripped through the infrastructure, obliterating all it came into contact with. The Space Station exploded in a fireball of debris. . .

**Power: End of part one. I'm going to leave you hanging for a while, while I write the first chapter for part two . Which will contain considerabley less Treezan action whoops. This chapter focused way too much on my fancharacters twitches which I hope won't happen again. I won't be starting another fanfiction, all chapters for Part 2 shall go here.**

A/N 1: Sulphurous was a little peeved that they survived the mine. He got a little carried away with the spanner. Well, at least he doesn't have to worry about N. Gin regaining consciousness and alerting Cortex to his motives. . .  
A/N 2: This paragraph wasn't in the original text.  
A/N 3: Niether was this one.  
A/N 4: This paragraph originaly went straight from Treezan meeting Sulphurous coming out of the lift, to her going down to engineering and finding N. Gin. Which left you wondering what Sulphurous did while that was going on. Maybe it was better that way, but I like how in this version, you keep jumping back and forth to what Sulphurous and Treezan are doing, giving the effect of prolonging the end. . . or so I think.

I can't shake the feeling that Sulphurous' motives are rather shallow and the end of this chapter rather cheesy. . . 


	5. Part 2: Chapter 1: Rewritten

**Power: Well, here it is. The first chapter of the second half, or the fifth of the whole fanfiction. However you look at it. I had most of this written up before Chapter 4 had been finished but I got stumped on how to continue it.  
Right, let's try this website stuff again; www. powerofthewol. deviantart. com**

Conspiracy Part 2: Chapter 1: Rewritten

He grasped Treezan's shoulders and shook her. "We don't have much time," he said urgently, "I need your help. Can you pull yourself together?"  
She sniffed and peered at him through tear-filled eyes and nodded.  
"Good." He grasped her hand and dragged her back to the Time Twister. Taking his portable time twister off it's stand, he turned back to her. "Help me put this on"  
Sniffing, she obeyed. While he buckled one side, cursing his trembling hands, Treezan did the other. Her tears clouded her vision and she fumbled with the buckles.  
"Done," she informed him in a shock-hushed tone.  
"Thank you." He spared a few milliseconds to pat her on the head between the antlers as she turned and left, heading back into Engineering. He keyed in the number of hours to twist back and just as he was about to confirm the entry, the Space Station rocked, as if struck by a massive blow. Taken by surprise, the movement floored him. A brilliant white light drew his attention upwards. Without hesitation, he confirmed the entry and he was twisted back in time. . . but too late. . .

Treezan looked up in time to see the laser beam melt the ceiling of Engineering. In the few seconds before the heat burned her beyond a crisp, she opened her mouth to scream. . . and then she was gone. . .

"So that's the Time Twister"  
"Marvellous isn't it?" said Koala Kong with a grin. "One wonders what Tropy originally built it for. It's doubtful that he built it for Uka Uka. I speculate that there was a more personal reason involved"  
"Like what"  
"None of our business. If he wants to tell us, he shall. No one can force him too"  
"Where is Uka Uka by the way"  
"I believe that he is challanging his twin, Aku Aku to a fight to the death, now that he is convinced that he has 'accumulated enough power"  
"You don't sound like you believe that"  
Kong sighed. "Aku Aku is a, shall we say, good guy. It is a well known fact that good always prevails over evil. And in light of current events, that theory has certainly been proved countless times. Thus fighting against Crash Bandicoot is a lost cause, one we will never win"  
Oxide raised an eyebrow and peered at Kong closely. "Do your. . . friends know of your opinion"  
Kong snorted. "They do not and I endeavour to keep it that way. Especially from Cortex. If he found out. . . well let's just say that I will spend the rest of my days homeless"  
"Wouldn't that Bandicoot take you in"  
He barked out a laugh. "They may have taken Crunch in, but he was being controlled, I am not. I do this out of my own free will. They would never trust me"  
"But you don't believe in fighting Crash Bandicoot"  
"I don't no, but it is too late for me to switch sides. And Cortex isn't all that bad. Therefore I shall continue to fight Crash Bandicoot and will probably do so until my death, whenever that is"  
Oxide stared at him, intruiged. "You're a very fascinating individual"  
Kong smiled. "Thank you Nitrous Oxide"  
Oxide opened his mouth to say something, considering bestowing Kong the honour of calling him by his first name, then decided against it, Perhaps later, he thought, closing his mouth.  
"Shall we continue"  
He nodded and went back to adding information to the damage report.  
"Once we finish this, there's just Doc Brio's lab before we can head back. I wonder if there's a working comm unit around"  
Out of nowhere a hideously burned figure appeared, howling in agony. It collapsed to the floor. The two stood in shock, staring with mouths agape. Springing to life, Kong went to the fallen figure's side and knelt beside him.  
The figure was siezed by a coughing fit. "Must. . . warn. . ." He gasped out.  
Koala Kong gasped in utter astonishment. "Dr. . . Tropy?"  
"Gasmoxian. . . sent. . . mine. . ."  
"Whoa there. Don't try to talk. I'll get Treezan down here." He began to stand up but Tropy found the strength to grab his arm. "Hear me. . . I'm dying. Gasmoxia. . . take Earth. . . don't let. . . Sulphurous. . . Oxide. . . on. . ." He collapsed onto the floor, dead.  
The koala stared at Oxide. "You heard that right?"  
Oxide nodded.  
"You recognise him as Dr. Nefarious Tropy, right?"  
Again, he nodded.  
"Something really serious must happen in the future then, if he came back. . . What do you know of this attempt to take over Earth?"  
"Nothing. I swear."  
Kong nodded. "And who is this Sulphurous Oxide?"  
The Gasmoxian cleared his throat and stared at his feet. "The ruler of Gasmoxia."  
"Any relation of yours?"  
"Yes as a matter of fact. He's my father."  
" I see." Koala Kong thought it wise not to dwell on this revelation. He looked back at N. Tropy, only find that he'd vanished. He got up and walked over to the comm mounted on the wall. "Dr. Cortex?"  
"Yes Kong. Damage Report?"  
"Not quite. It would seem we have a problem."

Koala Kong looked uncomfortable under the stunned gaze of the entire crew of Cortex's Space Station. They had all assembled in the ready room, including N. Tropy and N. Gin. Cortex lifted his head from his hands.  
"Just. . . let me get this straight. You're telling us that Dr. Nefarious Tropy-" he shot a glance at the person in question who, having been informed of his impending untimely demise, looked thoroughly disturbed. "-came back to our present and told you that Gasmoxia is behind the attack?" He shot a glance to Oxide, seated on Kong's left.  
The koala nodded. "I am"  
"Well then, Nitrous Oxide," the Gasmoxian's gaze had been on the floor. At the mention of his name, he looked up, meeting Cortex's stare. "What do you know of this plot"  
"Nothing"  
"Nothing at all"  
He shook his head. "No. . . I. . "  
"You what"  
"I. . . well, I haven't exactly been on Gasmoxia for a while. . "  
"I see"  
Kong interrupted. "He also a mentioned a Sulphurous Oxide and warned me not to let him on"  
Cortex raised an eyebrow and looked at Oxide again. He'd returned his gaze to the floor. "And does this Sulphurous Oxide have any relation to you"  
The alien answered without looking up. "Yes"  
"Well"  
". . . He's my father"  
"And how does he fit into this?" His question was directed at either.  
Kong answered. "Sulphurous Oxide is the Emperor of Gasmoxia. And undoubtedly the mastermind behind the whole ordeal"  
Cortex's minions began muttering amoungst one another in response to this revelation.  
Cortex himself exchanged looks with the other scientists.  
"Let me get this straight," N. Gin spoke up. "As the son of the Gasmoxian Emperor, that makes you the heir to his throne and an entire planet"  
"Wow," Brio muttered.  
"So what are you doing racing?" N. Tropy asked.  
"I ran away. I suppose you could call me a fugitive"  
"You ran away?" Pinstripe asked with wide eyes. "What the hell for"  
Oxide scowled at him. "I didn't want the responsiblity. And I'm no good at Politics"  
The potoroo shrugged. "I suppose that's fair enough"  
Komodo Joe cleared his throat and caught Cortex's eye. The scientist nodded. "Go ahead, Joe"  
"Well there was one thing I was curious about. Why did Tropy tell you, "not to let him on"  
Kong quickly answered before Tropy, who had opened his mouth to speak. "Well I've been thinking about that too. It seems to indicate that Oxide, Sulphurous Oxide comes here, to us. If that's the case, he must know that we are still alive and is coming to finish the job"  
Papu Papu had a question. "If Emperor Oxide want to kill us, why he ask to come on Space Station"  
"Isn't that obvious? Because of me. He's been looking for me since I left"  
"Yes but he wouldn't have known you were onboard," said Brio. "I think what Papu Papu meant to ask, was why, if he came here with the intent of killing us, did he talk to us in the first place?" Papu Papu nodded and added "That too"  
N. Gin and Dingodile both had the answer and spoke at the same time. "Because he wanted to know our status (although here Dingodile said "to check up on us"  
Cortex looked quickly from N. Gin to Dingodile as they spoke. "He sees Nitrous Oxide, who must at that point be on the Bridge and had to change his plans, so he asks to come aboard"  
"In an attempt to persuade me to leave with him"  
"Working on the assumption," said Treezan "that he doesn't arrive in the near-near future. N. Gin and Tropy may have already started working on repairing the Space Station, perhaps even fixed something? So he may have gone down to Engineering and wrecked all their progress, which would have otherwise saved us from Sulphurous Oxide's weapon, whatever that is. And this may have been why Tropy warned us not to let him on"  
"So, what do we do?" asked Komodo Moe.  
Cortex turned to N. Gin and Tropy. "You two should start getting to work on Engineering"  
"I have a better idea," Treezan cut in.  
"And what's that"  
"I have a molecular repairer in Medics. We should all go there where I can use it on our injuries. Then, although I would have preferred for N. Gin and Tropy to have got some sleep beforehand, they should start work on Engineering. Everyone else can go to sleep, unless you," and she looked to N. Gin and Tropy "want our assisstance"  
Cortex exchanged looks with the afforementioned scientists. "That sounds like an excellent idea. Lead the way, Treezan."

**Power: I apologise for any tense swtiches, but it was hard to write about them talking about an event that's just happened and will happen in their future. . .  
Hopefully the dialogue, more specifically, who was saying what wasn't too confusing.  
Hmm, my chapters seem to be getting shorter. Well it felt like a good place to leave off. To continue this chapter would just be repeating Chapter 3 and what they've just been saying.**


End file.
